1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a nestable and stackable tray for shipping of coiled weather stripping and the like.
2. Prior Art
In modern manufacturing, it is common practice to assemble completed units at a single location from various parts and components which are shipped to the assembly location from other locations. The parts and components are normally fabricated in facilities remote from the assembly location and shipped to the assembly location in various types of containers, many of which are disposable. Such disposable containers are fabricated from cardboard and low-grade wood, and while adequate for their intended purpose they have presented serious disposal problems at assembly plants as they are costly to handle, store and transport for disposal.
In the past, weather stripping was coiled on a tray or in a box for shipping. During shipping the weather strips tended to shift and move about. The weather stripping, because of this shifting, was sometimes damaged by kinking or severe bending. The bulb portion of the weather strip is particularly sensitive to damage because of severe bending or kinking of the weather strip during shipping. Such damage can cause problems in sealing in the final automobile if the damaged weather strip remains undetected. If the damaged weather strip is detected the weather strip must be discarded. Thus, damage of weather strip during shipping has resulted in wasted materials and potential problems in use of the weather strip in the final application. Additionally, because of the weight of the coiled pieces of weather strip and the shifting caused thereby, the entire container would have to be reinforced in order to provide for any possible redistributions of weight during shipping.
Thus, in recent years there has become a need to reduce and avoid the waste caused by throwaway containers by providing reusable shipping containers. Additionally, it has been a goal to provide a shipping tray for weather stripping which will reduce the losses of weather stripping due to damage during shipping.
Reusable shipping containers can cause the further problem in that they must be return shipped from the assembly facility to the parts production facility. Thus, it has also been a goal in the art to provide a reusable tray which can be utilized to ship weather stripping and the like and which can be thereafter easily and compactly reshipped to the point of origin for reuse.
In recent years stackable and nestable shipping trays have been utilized as reusable shipping containers. Such trays may be advantageously stacked in a configuration for containing parts therein during shipping and which will nest inside one another for saving space during return shipment of the trays to the point of origin. However, up to the time of the present invention such a tray has not been provided for shipping of weather stripping and the like.